


Known

by spacehopper, winternacht



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Arguing, M/M, Touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 09:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20468678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacehopper/pseuds/spacehopper, https://archiveofourown.org/users/winternacht/pseuds/winternacht
Summary: So many months of being denied a visit, so much time to think about the answers Jon wanted to draw from him, and now that Elias was back, sitting behind his desk like nothing had changed at all, Jon struggled to settle on a question.





	Known

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 100 words of covert touching.

So many months of being denied a visit, so much time to think about the answers Jon wanted to draw from him, and now that Elias was back, sitting behind his desk like nothing had changed at all, Jon struggled to settle on a question.

“Why did you do it?” he finally asked. His words pushed through the silence that had settled between them like a heavy curtain.

Elias’s lips curled into a smile. “You’ll have to be more specific. I’ve done a lot.”

Jon’s hands balled into fists, knuckles pressing down on Elias’s polished desk. “And here I thought you mostly just sat around watching.”

The amusement on Elias’s face didn’t waver, and Jon’s anger twisted into bitter resignation. Because evidently, nothing had changed after all.

“That’s your role, isn’t it?” he asked, not even bothering to compel. “Perched up on your pedestal, staring down while the rest of us flail about.”

Even like that, with Elias looking up at him from his chair, it felt like their positions were reversed.

“It’s slightly more complicated than that.” Elias leaned forward, his eyes never leaving Jon’s. “As I’m certain you know.”

His hands brushed across Jon’s knuckles, so unexpectedly gently that they soothed the tension away, until the moment of surprise had passed.

Jon yanked his hands away. “It—stop it.”

“Hmmm.” Elias withdrew readily enough, seemingly utterly unfazed by the rejection. Jon was anything but. He gripped the edge of the desk carefully, just to have something to hold onto, and hoped the heat in his cheeks didn’t show. 

“And—and don’t say I’ll have to be more specific. You know exactly what I mean.” 

Elias rested his hands on the desk, primly folded over one another. “No, Jon. I can’t simply know what you mean.”

It had to be a lie. But at this point, lies didn’t matter to Jon anymore.

“Oh, fine,” he said. The power was pulsing in his veins. “Why did you go to prison? Why waste all that time sitting there and—and plotting, or whatever it is you were doing?”

He watched Elias closely. Watched his eyes flutter shut briefly and his shoulders roll. The smile he directed towards Jon was not smug at all. Jon did not want to think about what it was. 

“Did you have something else in mind for me? Because prison is the normal place for a murder suspect.”

“We both know you’re hardly a normal murder suspect,” Jon spat. He actually had asked Daisy about that. If there were prisons for cases that fell under Section 31. The laugh Daisy had given him had been a sufficient answer, and thinking of it still chilled him to the bone, even now. 

“Quite.” A simple, careless answer. As if there had been no risk. No consequences.

“Even if you didn’t expect Martin, you must’ve known before the arrest,” Jon pressed on. “You still had a chance to escape.” 

“And what purpose would that have served?” Elias asked. His tone was still a light, almost teasing thing, but his gaze was intense on Jon, drawing out answers Jon wished he could hide from himself.

“You could’ve—”

“Helped you?” 

Jon bit his lip. 

“No, I couldn’t,” Elias continued. “While I might not have chosen the exact circumstances, I’d already intended to take a sabbatical of sorts.” 

“Why?” Jon had considered the possibility, and still, the revelation left him hollow. “I needed you.” The words simply slipped out. 

“No, you didn’t.”

Jon opened his mouth to object, but Elias raised his hand. “I don’t have the answers you want.” 

“I don’t want answers,” Jon said. He was surprised to find he meant it, too. “Not anymore. Or well, I do, but it’s not that easy, is it? There’s no power, no god directing your actions, any more than mine.” 

Elias nodded. “Oh, Jon. You really are something. What do you want, then?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? And he knew the answer. Simple and complicated at once. 

“I just— No one else understands. I don’t want, that is, I can’t— You’re like me. Not—not exactly like me, but closer. Closer than anyone.” 

Jon’s heart was beating fast now, and it beat faster, still, when Elias stood and circled the desk. Jon turned, ready to step back. But he didn’t. 

“You don’t want to know.” Elias’s voice was soft. It only made the words that followed pierce Jon more violently. “You want to be known.”

Jon wished the truth would be a relief, but instead, it twisted into something rough and miserable, shearing away layers that were meant to stay hidden.

“It’s stupid, and it’s absolutely mad I’m talking to you about it, of all people,” Jon said quickly and took a step back. “I’ll go. Let you get back to—”

He stopped in his tracks when Elias reached for his wrist. Simply holding him in place in a loose grip Jon could pull away from any second. Should pull away from.

“Plotting?” Elias smiled, but there was a fondness to it now that made the corner’s of Jon’s mouth twitch in response. 

“Not like you’re good for much else,” Jon muttered. 

Elias laughed and drew Jon closer again, meeting no resistance at all.

“I want to know you, Jon,” Elias said quietly, his hand stroking down to take Jon’s. “More than I’ve wanted to know anyone in a very long time.” 

A soothing warmth spread through Jon’s chest. He looked into Elias’ eyes, Seeing him, and allowing him to see Jon in turn. Sharing in strength and vulnerability in a way nobody else could.

“Why?” Jon couldn’t help the compulsion, but it wasn’t so he would get an honest answer. Not really. And by the way Elias caressed his cheek in response, the way he tilted his chin up just slightly, Jon could tell that Elias knew.

Their lips brushed together in a kiss that left Jon’s lips tingling pleasantly, as fleeting as it was. 

“Come and see.”


End file.
